WEC 50 Preview

Cruz vs. Benavidez

Against all odds, WEC has made Wednesday part of the fight night
fraternity. A welcome change from spending the night with ancient
reruns of “Blossom” and stale French fries. Don’t judge me.

WEC
50 “Cruz vs. Benavidez 2” continues that proud tradition with a
lineup that will not only decide the bantamweight title but also
set the table for future contenders in every one of the WEC’s
buck-wild divisions.

Such stakes require some “Guardians of the Universe”-type knowledge
and I’m here to represent Oa -- just don’t ask me for a power
ring.

Reigning bantamweight champion Cruz is an altogether unique
presence among elite mixed martial artists. A ghost on the feet
with funky but technically sound striking and vastly underrated
wrestling skills, he outclassed Benavidez the first time around,
which means the onus is on Benavidez to bring something new to the
table.

Most of Benavidez’s problems in the first fight stemmed from Cruz’s
ethereal movement and rangy, high-volume striking style. That
approach kept Benavidez fighting at a distance that neutralized his
offense. When he did get inside on “The Dominator,” his takedown
attempts either got stuffed or reversed with shocking ease on both
fronts.

For Benavidez to avoid repeating that fate he has to get after Cruz
with single and double legs from the get-go. The problem is that he
isn’t that kind of fighter. Instead, he tends to try and establish
a rhythm on the feet first and then starts bringing the leg
attacks.

Cruz is simply too mobile and accurate on the feet for Benavidez to
get anything going against him, and the disparity in reach is
something Cruz already exploited to the nth degree in their first
bout. If Benavidez does focus on blasting through the pocket,
however, there is no guarantee that he’ll get anywhere close to
getting Cruz down.

With that said, Benavidez has made serious improvements in his
ground-and-pound. He also has that nasty front headlock series that
Team Alpha Male is renowned for. If he can find the takedown that
eluded him so many times before, this fight takes on a whole
different dimension since Cruz’s guard is almost completely
unproven.

That’s a really rosy scenario for Benavidez, though. He is still
facing a far better striker with absolutely brilliant takedown
defense. Toward the end of their first fight, it looked as if Cruz
had Benavidez figured out. He was starting to land more liberally
and just manhandled him in the clinch for the entirety of the last
round. I can’t think of anything Benavidez has added to his game
that will keep Cruz from replaying his original game plan with the
same results.

Stopping Benavidez is like beating “Contra” on a single life. He is
so good at exploding out of bad positions, and Cruz doesn’t have
the power to starch elite opposition. However, Cruz had an answer
for everything from Benavidez’s takedowns to his vice-grip
guillotine choke in their first encounter. Combined with his
endless cardio, Cruz has all the mental and physical tools in place
to neutralize Benavidez, who will, hopefully, be fighting in the
WEC’s eternally delayed flyweight division someday.